Removal of U.S. troops from Seoul, 25 miles from the DMZ,
meets with growing security jitters

East-Asia-Intel.com

January 20, 2004

The U.S. decision to pull its troops out of Seoul has sparked security concerns
that the absence of American troops in the South Korean capital may weaken deterrence
against North Korea.

The United States and South Korea agreed over the weekend to pull out all the
American forces from Seoul by the end of 2007, putting an end to a half-century
of U.S. military presence in the capital.

Under the deal, about 7,000 U.S. troops at the Yongsan Garrison central Seoul
will move to a new base in Pyeongtaek, 40 miles south of the capital.

President Roh Moo-Hyun, who has sought less reliance on the U.S. protection,
welcomed the deal, ruling out any negative impact on the military deterrence
against the communist neighbor.

"There are people, including some government officials, who want to keep
the Yongsan base as it is now, but this is an old idea," Roh told a group
of pro-government lawmakers. "There is nothing to worry about at all,"
he said.

But security jitters are growing that the U.S. troops' southward relocation
could weaken the country's defenses against North Korea, which continues to
make nuclear threats.

The Yongsan base has served as a symbol of the 50-year-long military alliance
with the United States that helped South Korea repel the Soviet-backed North
Korean invasion during the 1950-53 Korean War.

"I believe North Korea has refrained from attacking the South because
of the American troops here," said Ma Sung-Kwon, 39-year-old bank official
in Seoul. "I hope American troops remain here to deter the North."

Seoul is just 25 miles from the heavily fortified border with North Korea.
Some 12,000 artillery pieces are believed to be concealed in thousands of mountain
tunnels near the border.

In the first hours of a war, North Korea could rain between 300,000 and 500,000
artillery shells onto Seoul and other points in South Korea, defense officials
say. An artillery shell can reach Seoul in less than 2 minutes.

The conservative opposition parties have also opposed relocating all U.S. troops
out of Seoul. A group of 133 conservative lawmakers issued a statement opposing
the relocation plan and vowed to vote down any related bill in the 273-member
National Assembly.

"President Roh Moo-Hyun and his government must take all the responsibility
for the security vacuum in metropolitan areas," they said in a statement.

The southward redeployments would put U.S. troops out of the range of North
Korean artillery attacks. The United States has already pushed for a plan to
pull back about 15,000 soldiers of the Army's 2nd Infantry Division from the
frontline to areas south of Seoul to avoid the North's artillery attacks.

North Korea, for its part, says the U.S. plan to pull back its troops is designed
to make them less vulnerable when it launches a preemptive strike against the
communist nation.

"The U.S. troops' southward relocation plan is aimed at occupying positions
favorable for mounting a preemptive attack on the North," Rodong Sinmun,
the North's ruling Workers' Party newspaper, said in a recent edition.